Process of producing pearlescent plastic articles



Dec. 25, 1956 E. M. MQELLIGOTT 2,774,992

PROCESS OF PRODUCING PEARLESCENT PLASTIC ARTICLES Original Filed Oct. 4, 1949 Cttornegs United States Patent O PROCESS OF PRODUCING PEARLESCENT PLASTIC ARTICLES i Edward M. McElligott, Detroit, Mich., assignor to Swedish Crucible Steel Company, Detroit, Mich., a corporation lof Michigan Original application October 4, 1949, Serial No. 119,434,

now Patent No. 2,648,098, dated August 11, 1953. Divided and this application August 22, 1951, Serial No. 243,081

1 Claim. (Cl. 18-55) This invention relates to molding processes and apparatus and, in particular, to a process and apparatus for molding pearlescent articles, such as picture frames, toilet seats and the like.

One object of this invention is to provide a process of producing solid pearlescent plastic articles which shall exhibit a variegated pearlescent appearance in all parts of the article, even in cross-section, and wherein the completed article will be permanently free from delamination or splitting apart in layers.

Another object is to provide a process of making pearlescent articles wherein a charge of a predetermined weight of the pearlescent plastic material is extruded from a mixing-or extruding machine into a form conveniently handled in a molding press and conveniently manipulated by the operator with a minimum of operations.

Another object is to provide a process and apparatus for molding open-centered pearlescent plastic articles wherein a mixing machine for the mixture of plastic materials which produce the pearlescent eect is provided with an extrusion orifice having a cross-section approximately corresponding to the cross-section of the mold lcavity and consequently of the article to be molded.

Another object is to provide apparatus for molding pearlescent plastic articles wherein a plastic mixing and extruding device is attached to the molding press and has its nozzle arranged for extrusion directly into the mold cavity, thereby eliminating the necessity for transfer of the material from the mixer and extruder to the molding press.

This application is a devision of my co-pending application Ser. No. 119,434 tiled October 4, 1949, for Process and Apparatus for Producing Pearlescent Plastic Articles, which became U. S. Patent No. 2,648,098 of Angust 11, 1953.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a side elevation, partly in central vertical section, of a molding press having a mixing or extruding device attached to the press and extruding the mixture of plastic materials directly into the mold cavity, according to one form of the invention;

Figure 2 isa top plan View of a lower mold for thev press of Figure 1, but showing a modication of the process and apparatus wherein a single coil of the material is extruded in approximately the cross-section of the article to be molded;

Figure 3- is a vertical cross-section taken along the line 3 3 in Figure 2; and

Figure 4 is a perspective view of an open-centered article produced by the process and apparatus of the present invention, such as a toilet seat.

General description The molding of pearlescent plastic articles has hitherto been attended with great diiculty, especially as regards permanence of the article molded. Early eforts in pro- Frice ducing pearlescent plastic articles consisted in applying a thin coating or skin-like layer of the pearlescent material over a core of Wood or other suitable material. The plastic material used in these early processes was highly inammable and required the use of dangerously explosive solvents which gave olf noxious fumes, thereby making the process uncomfortable and even haiardous to the operator. Other inventors endeavored to mold pearlescent plastic articles by injecting mixtures of variegated plastic materials into a plastic injection molding machine, but the articles thereby produced were found to be impermanent in that they sooner or later developed delamination or peeling olf and cracking between the various layers of the different plastic materials. The present inventor originated a process of producing solid pearescent plastic articles which is described and claimed in his Patent No. 2,516,065 issued July 18, 1950, on his application Serial No. 34,644 tiled June 23, 1948, for Process of Producing Pearlescent Articles, which was co-pending with the parent application Ser. No. 119,434 filed October 4, 1949, of which the present application is a divisional application, as stated above.

According to this process, a mixture of mutually incompatible plastics such as polystyrene resin and methylmethacrylate resins in powder form is placed in a mixing and extruding machine from which the mixture of materials is extruded onto a weighing scale until a predetermined quantity is accumulated, whereupon the ropelike stream of plastic material is severed. The material is accumulated in charges consisting of small piles or coils, these being placed at predetermined spaced locations around the mold cavity of the lower mold of the molding press. When the mold halves were closed, the material in being compressed was spread sidewise from each charge so that a continuous article was produced, with a minimum of motion or travel of the material.

The present process and apparatus are an improvement on the prior process in that the necessity for weighing out and accumulating the separate multiple charges of material is eliminated, and the possibility of delamination occuring at the boundaries or junctions between the streams of material coming from the different charges in the mold cavity is Still 'further reduced. According to one form of the present invention, the mixture of mutually incompatible plastics producing the pearlescent eiiect is extruded from the nozzle of an extruding machine onto a holder, or directly into the mold cavity of a molding press, of stainless steel or other suitable ma- 'terial in a shape roughly resembling a mans straw hat, the rope-like mass of extruded material being coiled around the upstanding central flange of the device or around the mold cavity a suicient number of turns to produce the ydesired predetermined weight of material which will exactly fill the mold with the minimum of ash remaining after molding. When the desired quantity has been thus accumulated in doughnut-like form, either on a holder or in the mold cavity, it is picked up by the operator and twisted at various points while preserving its open-centered form, and transferred in its twisted form to the mold cavity of a molding press, if it is not already in the mold cavity. The mold is then closed, causing the strands of molding material to till the mold cavity and produce the solid pearlescent article. The term solid is used herein to mean that the pearlescent effect is not merely a surface or skin eiect, but extends entirely through the article.

By this improved process of the present invention the finished article has a highly variegated appearance of pearlescence and at the same time is permanently free from delamination The process is also substantially free from the necessity for estimates or guesswork on the part of the operator because a certain length of the plastic rope when coiled around the transfer device or mold cavity a specified number of turns gives a deinite predetermined weight.

The plastic mixture may be extruded directly into the die cavity from the nozzle of an extruded attached directly to the press (Fig. 1) and discharging directly into the die cavity, the cord or rope of material being preferably led around the die cavity by being grasped by tongs in the hands of the operator.

By a modication of the process and apparatus of the present invention (Figures 2 and 3), a single coil or strand of the material is extruded from the mixing machine through a nozzle having a cross-section approximately corresponding to the cross-section of the article to be molded. This is either extruded directly onto the mold cavity or transferred thereto from a holder, the ends of the strand or coil being overlapped to present delamination at that point.

Detailed description Referring to the drawings in detail, Figure 1 shows one form of process and apparatus for producing pearlescent plastic articles, according to the present invention. Figure 1 shows an extruding machine, generally designated 71, depositing a coil of plastic material from a rope-like stream 12 from the nozzle 13 of the extruding machine 71. The extruder 71 is of a conventional type Well-known to engineers and its details are outside the scope of the present invention. For the purposes of the present disclosure, therefore, it is sufficient to state that the extruding machine 71 consists of a hollow casing 15 (Figure l) having a central bore 16 in which a screw 17 operates and is rotated by a shaft 18 driven by a motor and reduction gearing (not shown). A heating jacket or chamber 19 surrounds the bore 16 within the casing 15 and insures that the plastic mixture is kept sufficiently hot to cause fusion. The nozzle 13 has an orifice 20 of suitable size arranged at the end of a tapering nose portion 21. The mixture of plastic materials, such as polystyrene and methylmethacrylate resins in powder form is placed in a hopper (not shown) leading into the opposite end of the bore 16 from the nose portion 21. The mixture of powdered plastic materials is thoroughly agitated by the screw 17 and impelled forward at the same time, while it is heated by heat from the heating jacket 19. The latter may provide heat from steam or from an electric resistance winding, as is well known in such machines.

The molding press, generally designated 70, is of a conventional type having a head 26 connected by strain rods 27 to a bed (not shown). Reciprocating vertically toward and away from the press head 26 is a platen 28 mounted on a plunger 29 which is reciprocable in the bore 30 of a hydraulic cylinder 31. By supplying pressure Huid, such as oil, to the bottom of the cylinder 31, beneath the lower end of the plunger 29, the platen 28 is caused to rise. Mounted on the press head 26 and platen 28 are the upper and lower mold halves 32 and 33 respectively. Each of the mold halves 32 and 33 is provided with a hollow base 34 and 35 having a heating chamber 36 with inlet and outlet pipes 37 and 38 communicating therewith and connected to a source of suitable heating agent, such as steam. The lower mold half 33 preferably contains the major portion of the mold cavity 39, which in this instance is of approximately orbital shape with an island 40 rising in the middle thereof. The

upper mold half 32 has a portion 41 of such an outline as to enter and tit snugly within the mold cavity 39, and its lower surface is such as to fit snugly against the upper surface of the island 40, thereby confining the material to the mold cavity 39. The latter, in the case of a toilet seat, has a side cavity 42 (Figure 2) with pockets 43 arranged to form upstanding lugs 44 (Figure 4) upon the rearward projection 45 or platform extending rearwardly from the seat portion 46 of the toilet seat, generally designated 47. The latter, of course, is of roughly annular or toroidal shape with an upper surface of arcuate crosssection and an open center 48.

The extruder 71 is attached directly to the platen 28 and has its nozzle 13 discharging directly into an orice 72 in the mold cavity 39.

In the operation of the apparatus shown in Figure l, and in carrying out the process of the present invention, the mixture of plastic materials in granulated form is placed in a conical tumbler or any other type of mixer and thoroughly mixed. The batch, as explained in my above-mentioned co-pending application, may consist of the following:

Percent Methyl methacrylate resin, clear 60 Polystyrene resin, clear 35 Polystyrene resin, colored 5 After mixing, the batch is placed in the hopper of the extruder whence it descends to the bore 16 thereof. As heat is applied to the chamber or jacket 19, either by steam or other heating agent or by an electrical resistance winding therein, the heat is transferred through the inner wall of the casing 15 to the batch and fuses the materials together so that it is extruded as a paste-like rope at a temperature of about 450 F. As a consequence, the mold charge is extruded directly into the mold cavity 39 and its extensions 42 and 43, the end of the strand or rope 12 being preferably led around the mold cavity 39 by grasping it with tongs and pulling it around the cavity 39. When a sufficient amount of charge has been accumulated, the extruder 71 is halted, and molding is then carried out in a manner similar to that described below in connection with Figure 1.

The operator then twists the charge thus obtained in order to further insure irregularity of distribution and to further minimize the danger of delamination. The number of turns making up the coil constituting the charge depends, of course, upon the size of the orice 20 in the nozzle 13 of the extruder 71. It is found convenient for one size of article and a certain size of orifice to wind about three turns around the mold cavity. It is preferred that the end of the strand shall terminate approximately diametrically opposite the beginning thereof so as to further mnimize delamination.

Meanwhile, the upper and lower mold halves 32 and 33 have been suitably heated to approximately 325 to 350 F., such as by supplying steam to the heating jackets or chambers 36. Pressure fluid is then supplied to the bottom of the hydraulic cylinder 31 causing the plunger 29, platen 28 and lower mold half to rise, closing the mold halves and causing the coil-like charge 52 of material to spread out and till the mold cavity. A pressure of approximately 3000 to 4000 pounds per square inch is employed by using a molding pressure of approximately 250 tons.

When the mold halves 32 and 33 have completely closed, they are permitted to remain closed for three or four minutes so as to eject the flash or excess plastic material out of the mold, the amount of flash depending upon how closely the operator has estimated the charge to fill the mold cavity. Cooling water at approximately F. is then passed through the chambers 36, cooling down the mold halves 32 and 33 and solidifying the contents. The fluid is then released from the cylinder 31, causing the platen 2S and mold half 33 to descend and open the mold. The molded article is then removed from the mold cavity 39 and the latter and the upper mold half 32 carefully cleaned so as to leave no trace of molding material or other foreign matter. The foregoing procedure is then repeated to mold subsequent articles 47. The article itself is found to exhibit a variegated pearlescent appearance and delamination does not occur even though the article is used over a long period of time.

Modified processes and apparatus The modified process of Figures 2 and 3 employs the same or similar apparatus as that shown in Figure 1, except that the extruder 71 is provided with a nozzle 13 having an orice 20 suiiciently large in cross-section to approximate the size and shape of cross-section of the article to be molded. The charge 60 is extruded as before, but only a single turn is made (Figure 2) and the ends 61 and 62 are overlapped to prevent seams and a possible source of delamination. The charge 60 is either extruded directly into the mold cavity 39 or transferred thereto, and the pressing procedure is then carried out in the manner previously described. As the mold halves come together, the additional thickness of material provided by the overlapping ends 61 and 62 spreads into the space 42 and pockets 43 at the rearward end of the mold cavity, filling thisI space and consequently providing the platform 45 and lugs 44 on the finished article 47 (Figure 4). In order to provide this result, it is of course desirable that the overlapped ends 61 and 62 be placed adjacent the space 42 so that the material will be required to move the least possible distance while it is lling the mold cavity.

What I claim is:

A process of molding approximately annular plastic articles from synthetic resin compound in an approximately annular mold cavity, comprising reducing the compound to a plastic condition, extruding the plastic compound in the form of a rope directly into the rnold cavity grasping the forward end of the extruded rope, maintaining the mold cavity in a substantially stationary position while leading the forward end of the extruded rope and the portion of the rope following thereafter in an approximately annular path around said approximately annular mold cavity at substantially the same speed as the speed at which said rope is being extruded, severing the extruded portion of the rope thus deposited in the mold cavity from the remaining portion of the rope, and compressing the portion of the rope deposited in the mold cavity to ll a predetermined portion of the mold cavity.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,586,737 Geyer June 1, 1926 1,840,634 Nellis Ian. 12, 1932 2,156,396 Macklin May 2, 1939 2,156,508 Minor May 2, 1939 2,167,971 Cadden Aug. l, 1939 2,200,262 Daley et al. May 14, 1940 2,327,931 Ratner Aug. 24, 1943 2,452,884 Werner Nov. 2, 1948 2,516,065 McElligott July 18, 1950 2,564,203 Hendry Aug. 14, 1951 

